September 2013

EBK Notices

Pizza Night It was fantastic to see so many families attend our annual Pizza Night. It was a great success and the kids really enjoyed the band - The Mudcakes!

Make sure you’ve got Friday 13th December in your diaries for our End of Year Get Together. Stay tuned for more details…

Election Day Sausage Sizzle Many thanks to everyone who helped out with the Sausage Sizzle on Election Day. We raised $850 for our kinder!

Another successful Working Bee! Thanks to the more than 30 parents who gave up some of their Sunday morning on Sept 15th to help keep the kinder grounds looking great for our kids. It was a beautiful spring day, we got loads done and had tons of fun! Look out for the final Working Bee for the year in late Nov / early Dec.

Staff News Annie’s spine operation went well and she is now resting at home. Please say hello to Ashley who is currently studying child care and working towards completing her certificate. She has worked this week in Group A Kingfisher group.

Calendar Oct

• 7th – Term 4 resumes • 10th and 11th – Dream Time

puppets • 14th and 15th – “Wild Action”

visit Nov

• 5th – Centre closed for Melbourne Cup Day

• 21st - Special General Meeting • 21st and 25th – Merri Creek

management visit •

Dec

• Friday 13th - End of year celebration, 6-8pm

• 16th and 18th - Last days for Group A and B

• 20th – Centre closes (last childcare / 3 yr old program)

Jan

• Mid Jan – Working Bee to tidy up the kinder ready for…

• Wed 22nd Jan – Centre opens for 2014!

Newsletter

EBK Hats and T-Shirts – Available NOW! Helping to protect the kids from the summer sun, giving them a sense of community and raising funds – Does it get any better! EBK logo t-shirts and hats for sale NOW! Available in assorted colours and sizes. Order form and samples for viewing are outside Kingfisher Room. Prices are $15 each or 2 for $28.

Children’s Health

Please look out for updated information on the front door regarding children’s health and wellbeing. We have had a few cases of conjunctivitis, slap cheek and general coughs and colds. Please observe/follow management guidelines as outlined on the information sheets.

Coming Up….

“Wild action” Australian Animals and reptiles will be visiting the Kingfisher groups on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th Oct

“Dream time puppets” will be visiting the centre on Thursday 10th and Friday 11th October. They will be presenting “Dreamer in the Deep”.

Staff News (cont.)

Sadly we say farewell to Liz Condon who has worked at EBK for15 years. Liz will be missed and we wish her all the very best in retirement.

Jane and Mary recently attended some leadership sessions which covered topics such as different leadership styles, team building, motivating and inspiring staff, delegation and conflict resolution.

Recently several EBK staff attended workshops on positive behaviour guidance and the concept of “emotion coaching”. Ange has kindly put together some of the key learning’s from these sessions and how they are being applied at EBK. See the notes at the end of the newsletter – well worth reading!

New Kitchen Garden Co-ordinator

A big thank you to Megan Smart, Thomas’ mum from Kingfisher (Group A) who has taken on the role of looking after and coordinating work on our veggie garden boxes. If you would like to lend a helping hand, you are more than welcome to join in on a Monday or Thursday afternoon. Please see Mary.

Transition Learning Development statements. (4 Year old Kinder)

Over the next few months we will be completing the Transition Learning Development Statements for all the children commencing school next year. The statement is a strength based report (linked to the five learning outcomes), aimed at helping schools get to know and prepare for the children entering their classes next year. Parents will receive the reports in November and with family consent, they will be forwarded to the school. Please speak to Mary or Ellie if you have any queries.

Holidays

The Kingfisher room will be on school holidays from Monday 23rd Sept- Friday 4th Oct. Term 4 resumes Monday 7th Oct and finishes Wednesday 18th December. Platypus and Pobblebonk rooms continue right up until Friday 20th December.

President’s Report – Sept 2013! I promise to keep it short this month – dot points only!

- Big thanks to parent Rachael Polic who recently had to resign from the Committee but who has made a fantastic contribution throughout the year in redesigning and rejuvenating our Newsletter and as a Maintenance Coordinator. Anyone interested in taking on newsletter production, please contact me (asap!).

- Our DRAFT strategic plan for the next 3 years has been approved by the Committee and is ready for comment/feedback from all staff and parents. Please look on our website for a copy and send any comments to Secretary Nancy Cotela for inclusion in the final version. This will be approved at our October committee meeting.

- More policies approved this month by the Committee – a copy of all policies will be made available in every room and in the main office from the beginning of Term 4 for all parents/staff to read. Summaries of the key policies will appear in our Parent Handbook, currently off being printed. The final batch of policies will be approved at the October meeting – big job, nearly done. Yay!

- Constitution Review – we have to update our EBKCC constitution because of changes to the Incorporations Act (riveting stuff I know, but important for us to do). Again, copies of the proposed changes will be made available for all members of the EBKCC community to comment on and a Special General Meeting will be held in November to endorse the changes.

- Finally, September has been a HUGE month. Thanks so much to all the Committee members, other families, staff and community supporters who have helped us pull off the BIGGEST EVER PIZZA NIGHT, a fundraising sausage sizzle on Election Day, and a massive Working Bee. Seriously couldn’t do it without you!!!!!!

President’s Report

A big thanks to all our wonderful helpers at the Sept working bee!

Brett Riley, Rachael & Pauline Polic, Brett Vincent, Jason Coates, Judy and Peter Jones, Linda Flint, Fiona Liang, Tony Xie, Chris Black & Peter Henty, Geoff & Kat Turner, Sam Kyriakon, Kylie Riddell, Therise Brabet, Rowan Steel, Patsy Angley, Megan Smart, Jo Bradley, Tanya Wollenberg, Andrew LeBlanc, Steven Reiss, Santina & Nancy Cotela, Leo Faust, Silvana Cuzzi, Damien Miller, Dean Goodman, Matt Harris,Val

With your help we….

• Planted new seedlings • Cleaned up the front garden • Did loads of weeding and tidying • Dug over the mud patch • Oiled the new deck and other

outdoor equipment • Fixed up lots of toys and

equipment • Gave the kitchen and bathroom a

spring clean • Tidied up the vegie boxes and

kitchen garden area • Pruned, fed and staked up our

lovely trees

Program Report

Kingfisher Room Kindergarten Director’s Report - 4yr old Program

As a result of the pizza night, we decided to open up the Pizza restaurant/cafe in the home corner area. The children have taken on roles such as the Chef, waiter, customer and cleaner. Lots of great opportunities for social play, exploring roles, actively connecting with peers, listening and responding to each other’s play ideas. This experience also encourages children to explore a number of key literacy and number concepts. Children pretending to read menus, write down orders, make signs, use the pretend money. Talking about our favourite toppings has sparked many interesting conversations about how we eat our pizza.

Following on from our interest in indigenous stories, our student Teacher Liza spoke to the children about the many cultures that exist around the world. We spoke about what makes us different and what makes us the same. Some of the things mentioned were hair colour, skin colour, languages etc. We discovered that we have many different cultures at our kinder.

Last week, Laz and his dad Simon brought in their instruments to play at kinder. Simon brought his guitar and taught us a new song to sing called “Whoever you are”. We first read the story by Mem Fox which celebrates the differences in our lives that unite us all. We then had a go at joining in with the words. Laz and his dad also brought in their Cellos and Laz demonstrated how to practise his scales in front of the group.

Laz and his Dad brought in their

instruments and taught us a new song….

Whoever you are

We’re no different

you and I,

in our hearts, in our hearts.

We’re no different

you and I. We both need love, we

both need love.

We laugh the same, we

smile the same, we hurt the same, we cry the same.

Program Report

Kingfisher Room 4yr old Program (cont).

Another interest area has been our “making books come alive” area. We have set up a variety of props to support and guide storytelling sessions. This week we looked at “the story of the Mole” After reading and acting out the story with the Educator, the children then take control of the experience, engaging in and co constructing learning using the props to guide story telling. This has been a valuable language and literacy experience. It also supports children’s confidence and social skills.

Some other interesting books have been the eco- environment books. We read and talked about “My Green Day”. Discussing ten ways we can do good things to help our environment. The children discussed re cycling, using cloth bags to go shopping, not wasting food, having shorter showers, wearing extra layers when it is cold etc. We all talked about sharing one idea with our family! Another interesting book was the “Corroboree frog” This was a story about the plight of one of Australia’s most endangered species. The story talks about not leaving rubbish behind that will pollute the river, otherwise the frog’s eggs will not hatch and the species will be threatened.

On Thursday, we had a visit from the local police who spoke to the children about their job. Some of the topics discussed were attending to emergencies, what to do if you get lost, knowing your name, address and phone number, things to remember when we cross the road, wearing seat belts in the car. The children got to check out the car and hear the siren and we all posed for a group photo. (The Police were also booked to visit the other group however had to cancel due to illness - sorry!)

Mary, Annie, Missy, Karen, Pam and Ellie

Program Report

Platypus Room Early Learning Program Group E: Wednesday & Friday 4 year- old program

It has been a wonderful month in the Platypus Room. After games day the children created their own games using the game templates, textas, dice and open-ended materials. We saw versions of snakes and ladders, chess, a “shopping” game and a “spider” game just to name a few. As such they had the opportunity to create and collaborate with others as well as develop fine motor, literacy and numeracy skills.

After much experience with the kinder marble run we added some materials for the children to make their own marble runs. At first we used wooden train tracks and small blocks; next we added cardboard cylinders and plastic cups. What fun it was to launch the marbles from different heights. Lucky we worked out ways to stop the marbles flying off everywhere. We saw lots of problem solving and respectful collaboration.

After some children made money and wallets we decided to make a shop. It has been very popular! They have enjoyed cutting out money, making price tags (only $29 for a cauliflower), sorting money, making signs and taking on the role of customer and shopkeeper –along the way developing many fine motor, literacy, numeracy, social and language skills. We extended this interest further at group time by singing and acting out “5 apple pies at the baker’s shop” as well as listening to a story without a book called “Caps for Sale”.

Group E: Wednesday & Friday 4 year- old program (cont.)

Another big interest at group time has been “Show and Tell”. This started slowly with one child bringing in something to show us and is now so popular we have developed a list with dates and names to make sure no-one misses out! We are having many fabulous discussions. A small plastic dental floss device led to a big discussion about dental care. We have seen treasures in a box, key-rings, ninjas, holiday books, lip balm, crystals, shark teeth and a bag of craft materials. Each and every item is looked at avidly. The children sit in a circle and the person out the front enjoys telling us all about their item. We are learning how to be “respectful listeners” – sit with your legs crossed, look at the person talking and raise your hand when you want to ask a question or make a comment. We look forward to more interesting discussions next term. It is surprising what can come up.

As part of rest time we have been reading “The Wizard of Oz”. This book was brought in by Dahlia. We love it. We are about half way through and what a tale it is. One afternoon after rest time we made our own Wizard of Oz book full of the children’s illustrations. In this way, children got to re-tell parts of the narrative as well as practice their drawing skills. We then looked on-line to see images of the Wizard of Oz and printed out these images to add to the drawing area for inspiration. We can’t wait to continue with the story next term.

We said good-bye for now to our student Rosni. She has provided many wonderful experiences such as recycled paper mache creations and puppets and books from a diverse range of cultures. She led cooking experiences – we loved the chocolate balls on a stick. We look forward to seeing her again in November.

A few reminders to finish off. There are quite a few incursions coming up – please refer to the notice near the sign-in book. Ange is currently writing the children’s transition to school reports. There is a section for parents to fill out which will be given out in early November. Please see Ange for further information. Finally, please remember to bring your child’s hat and apply sunscreen in term 4.

Ange, Natalie, Tracey

Program Report

Program Report

Platypus Room - 3-year old

Shae and Georgie the Vet nurses with Harley

showing us how he can sit.

We also learnt that we must always ask the

owner before patting a dog because it might

not be friendly. Great tip Shae & Georgie!

We have really been enjoying the first few sunny days of Spring in the Platypus Room! Although we still need our jackets some days it is a good idea to start packing hats in children's bags for those beautiful warm days. Sunscreen will also be set out near the sign in book for parents to apply in the morning, staff will reapply in the afternoons if needed.

The children have noticed more and more butterflies in the air lately and have been quite enthralled in the bug table set up inside. Both the 3's and 4's enjoyed watching a video on the laptop that showed the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly! We are also looking forward to seeing what happens to our garden in Spring and are already noticing blossoms on the 3 fruit trees just outside our room.

The children have also been enjoying decorating a large box that was donated. They have attached fabrics, paper, smaller boxes and an array of other craft materials to the box. We are yet to decide the use of this box but it has been great fun constructing with it and we are sure to think of something if we put our heads together!

The children in our group finally got to enjoy a visit from the Brunswick Central Vet Clinic. Due to unforeseen circumstances their visit to us had been postponed several times. The children loved seeing Harley the Labrador and Ralph the cat and giving them pats. Ralph was a bit shy so we had to be very quiet and gentle so we didn't scare him. The children were very good at this and Ralph enjoyed a pat from each child. Harley even let Oliver put a bandage on his legs and performed some tricks for Arley and Youny. Rose and Aleita got to dress up as Vets with special gowns, masks, hats and even a stethoscope. All the children got a turn at listening to Harley's heartbeat and giving him goodbye pats.

We have a few incursions set up for the following weeks also.

We are expecting a visit from the Police, a puppet show and a visit from someone to discuss the Merri Creek. These are sure to be a hit with the children being both fun and informative. We wonder if we will get to do the Police car siren?

Natalie, Tracey, Bec and Vicki

Program Report

Pobblebonk Room Early Learning Program

It has been a great month in the Pobblebonk room. Being

September footy fever is in the air! To celebrate we have

created our very own Footy finals fixture. The children have

enjoyed being a part of footy conversations and reflecting

on cultural traditions in their home city.

Another area of interest has been in dancing and Ballet. We

watched a performance of Swan Lake on the computer,

which sparked much discussion about both men and

woman performing, flexibility, story-telling through

movement and music. We then had our very own

Pobblebonk ballet performance. Tickets we sold and seats

lined the edge of the stage - it was a beautiful rendition of

swan lake.

To extend on the children's interest in mixing the paint pots in

the mornings, we have created our own colour experiment

table. The children use eye-droppers to collect coloured

water and experiment with colours in test tubes. We have

discovered that red and yellow make orange, blue and

yellow make green and blue and red make purple.

Enhancing the children's ability to experiment with cause

and effect, share their findings with their peers and make

predictions about the world around them.

Shelli, Zoe, Nihal, Amanda. Liz.

What's coming up? We are looking forward to our coming incursions: • Oct 10 and 11 Dream

Puppets puppet show • Oct 21and 25 Merri

Creek Management Committee

Positive Behaviour Guidance & Emotion Coaching

Notes by Ang on recent workshops attended by staff

Jo Lange is a dynamic and experienced early childhood consultant. Recently several EBK staff attended her workshop on positive behaviour guidance. Some of the key points staff noted were that children need to feel a sense of belonging and that all behaviour is purposeful.

When we’re thinking about positive behaviour guidance we are trying to instil “self-discipline” in children i.e behaving appropriately because it’s the right thing to do rather than because an adult has asked them to. How do we do this? One of the easiest things to remember is to give warm, positive attention and feedback much more than following up on negative behaviours. Such attention involves encouragement and it highlights the positive impact of the behaviour. For example, “I’ve noticed that you packed up the blocks. That means that no-one will trip over them and the area is ready for the next person. You should be proud of yourself”. Note how we show how behaviour affects others. We are gently and consistently trying to instill this sense of belonging to a group. With low key negative behaviour we can talk to the other children and role model what to do. For example, a child kneeling during group time, “It’s hard to see isn’t it Sally when people sit like that. Tell him to cross his legs”. We give attention to the child who is doing the behaviour that helps the group. Of course, there has to be clear, relevant consequences also for behaviour that cannot be ignored.

Several staff were also introduced to “emotion coaching” by Sophie Havighurst, a Clinical Psychologist. There are five steps to emotion coaching (John-Gottman, 1997):

1. Be aware of the child’s emotion (especially lower intensity emotions). 2. View these emotions as an opportunity for connecting and teaching. 3. Communicate understanding and acceptance of the emotion (i.e show empathy). 4. Help the child identify and label the emotion. 5. Set limits when helping children problem-solve. Communicate that all feelings are OK but not

all behaviours are OK.

For example, a child says “They NEVER let me play!” An emotion coaching response might be, “Gee, looks like you’re feeling pretty cross with them right now. Seems like that’s hard for you. I wonder what we can do . . . . ” Notice how we focus on the emotion before we try to problem solve. We want to validate and accept the feeling.

Emotion coaching by parents or teachers does not have to be used all the time to be effective. In fact, about 30% of the time is OK. The best time to use it is when you are calm, can catch the emotion at a low-intensity (so the child is able to think), are able to solely focus on the child and there is sufficient time. When emotions are at a high intensity it is best to give the child time to calm down as they simply can’t access the thinking part of the brain very well.

According to Sophie, emotion coaching is important because research suggests that children who are emotion coached are more likely to have better cognitive abilities, stronger social skills, display more pro-social behaviour, have fewer physical illnesses and lower externalising and internalising of problems.

Staff are practicing these techniques and are noticing that children are responding well to the emotion coaching as it calms and soothes them. They are then more receptive to problem solving or are simply happy to go on with play having had their feelings validated.